Beware When Cutting Hair and Costs, Cheap Haircuts Prove Risky for Students

It begins to fall irritatingly into your eyes. It becomes increasingly harder to brush through. The ends look as though they accidentally got caught in a food processor. Whatever the signs, there comes a point after several months of even the strictest denial that a haircut is inevitable, and for me that time corresponded providentially with the week I discovered the Jean Louis David salon on 75th and Broadway.

It seemed ideal—the name of a well-known stylist, a light, clean space, and haircuts starting at $24. Saturday morning I set off with the confidence that comes with anticipating change. When I arrived, I was immediately seated to have my hair washed. My stylist then led me to a seat in front of a mirror. That’s where the nightmare began.

I explained what I wanted, but, after discovering that my stylist spoke no English, had my doubts as to whether the message got through. When he began combing my hair, which I’ve been growing out for over three years, from the top down, my incredulity increased; by the time he’d sufficiently straightened it to my ears, the remaining foot of hair was a massive dreadlock. Then, brandishing a large pair of scissors like a set of gardening shears, he went in for the kill: splitting my hair into two parts, he lifted one whole section and, bunching it in his fist, then indiscriminately hacked his way down.

It was over before I knew it, and as I stood up to pay, I snuck a look: the right side was a good two inches shorter than the left, the front was completely uneven, and nothing had been done to the back. As I got to the register the man next to me gave me an apologetic grin and, before leaving, turned around and remarked, “You’re a pretty brave girl.”

The verdict: the cases are rare when it isn’t smart to pinch pennies, but I’m now of the opinion that hair is one of them. From now on, when the time comes to lose the split ends, I’ll be willing to pay up, or, for a more affordable option, have the holder of the scissors be someone I know. Then at least I’ll have someone to hold accountable.